June 17th, 2026
Wet Season vs. Dry Season
Everyone knows that crops need water. One of the most wonderful parts of living in the state of Wisconsin is that it rains here and that our aquifers are generally stable and full. But sometimes we can get too much rain at one time, too frequent of rain, or too little of rain. I get a lot of questions and comments from people about how happy I must be that it just rained or that it has been raining. But it wasn’t until I became a farmer that I learned about gauging the rain. I learned about vegetables crops and their water needs. I learned about the relationship between crops and moisture. There was so much to know!
If there was a precipitation dial on the farm, I would schedule for one inch of rain every Sunday morning. Maybe an inch an a half if we’ve had a hot and dry week. What vegetable crops really love is moisture at the root zone, but dry leaves. They also love to go through a wet/dry cycle. After they get water, they like to get thirsty again before you give them more water. Just as you might prefer to get thirsty before you drink more water.
Plants also love to have dry leaves and sunshine-creating a more ‘arid’ environment around the stems, leaves and flowers. When the leaves are dry, there is a much lower probability that the plants will develop blight or any kind of disease that season. Most kinds of fungus, blights and plant diseases thrive in warm and most environments. Tomato plants have made ‘blight’ famous because they get blighted almost every season wether you’re a home gardener or a farmer. It’s very difficult to grow tomatoes outdoors and prevent blight for a whole season without taking preventative measures.
Simply too many overcast, foggy or misty days in a row, especially when the days are shorter in the fall and sunshine hours are more limited where the leaves of the plants are always moist, blight is a big concern.
While we all know that we need rain, a dry season is always a great season for our vegetable crops if we can get water to the plants when they need it most. Dry years also mean more condensed flavor in the crops, no disease, less weeds and easier for the farmers to get crops in and out of fields.
So far this season we’ve had a bit of a mixed bag of weather. We’ve had long stretches with too little rain and even stretches with too much rain. But maybe the moral of the story here is that farmers are never really happy. In our eyes, it’s always too much or too little rain. What else would we have to complain about? The best news of all is that our farm has survived 21 growing seasons so far and we’ve experienced just about everything the midwest can offer and we’ve always been able to pack beautiful and bountiful CSA boxes all the way to the end of the season.
What’s in the Box?
Radish- Cherriette Radishes in the spring are so crunchy and delicious! Radish greens are even edible too if you’re really into saving and eating every last bit! Store radishes in a plastic bag in the fridge to preserve moisture.
Hakurai Salad Turnips- If you’re new to these, they’re nothing like what you think they are! These very special turnips are buttery and smooth yet also crunchy like a radish-without the spice. They’re lovely slivered onto salads, match-sticked and wrapped into your spring rolls, or even sauteed into a stir fry.
Herb Pack- Thyme, Sage, Rosemary and Oregano are the herbs in this herb pack. Can you tell which is which? There is nothing like fresh herbs growing right outside your kitchen door when you need them most. We want for you to have access to the freshest herbs this summer. Plant them in a sunny spot outside and give them plenty of water and maybe a little compost as well and watch them grow! They could also be planted in a container with very fertile soil and set in a sunny place.
Asparagus- One pound bunches of organic asparagus. Asparagus is the one and only item we buy for our CSA boxes from a different farm. They are certified organic and come from Spears R Us by Wisconsin Dells. We feel like it wouldn’t be Spring CSA Boxes without asparagus. This is the final week of Asparagus.
Pac Choi- These are greenhouse grown Pac Choi from our upper greenhouse. They are such a special, rare, Spring treat. Pac Choi are difficult to grow in the Spring because asian greens are loved by all kinds of bugs. We grow them under row cover in the greenhouse and they always do well in the
Red Buttercup Lettuce– These delicate heads of lettuce are also greenhouse grown in soil. Buttercup varieties of lettuce are only possible to grow in the Spring and Fall when the temperatures are mild and not. They don’t have the heat tolerance that the lettuce we grow in the summer has.
Spinach– We tried a new variety of lettuce this Spring called Macarthur and WOW! It was a very productive variety that did very well on our farm! We were thrilled to have been able to give you all 1 pound of spinach again this week!
Strawberries- Pints for every box. We had heavy rain this week and some berries could have been a little dirty. We’re very sorry if you got a few berries with dirt on them, just rinse them and enjoy! Berries should be kept refrigerated if you keep them that long!
Next Week’s Best Guess: Radishes, Hakurai Salad Turnips, Lettuce, Kohlrabi, Strawberries, cilantro?, swiss chard or kale, over-wintered potatoes.
Joe and Naia are wearing their new Small Family Farm T-Shirts we had made for the crew. Thanks to Mike Lind with Aspen Farms Studio for the fun design!
Recipes
What’s in the Box?
Overwintered Red Potatoes- These beauties were over-wintered from last summer. They’ve been in cold storage all winter so they may want to sprout if left out at room temp. Keep them in your fridge if you don’t think you’ll eat them up right away.
Cherry Bell Radishes- Gorgeous red cherry bells that are a colorful and flavorful addition to every salad. Store in a plastic bag in the fridge to preserve moisture.
Hakurai Salad Turnips- These spring turnips have a smooth texture and a sweet flavor. They do not need to be peeled. Their greens are edible. The greens are not exactly tender but they’re not tough either. Once lightly cooked or wilted they turn into tender cooking greens that can add greens to any recipe.
Cilantro- We are thankful the cilantro pulled through okay! It was pounded pretty flat from the heavy rains last week, but it perked up and pulled through okay! Store cilantro in a plastic bag in the fridge to preserve moisture.
Head Lettuce x 2- You may have received 1 red oakleaf lettuce and one standard red lettuce. Some people received a third head if the heads were smaller. Store lettuce in a plastic bag to preserve moisture.
Rhubarb- .38 lbs per member. Many recipes call for about a cup or two of rhubarb, so hopefully you have enough here to make your favorite rhubarb recipes! Strawberries and Rhubarb go very well together!
Strawberry Quarts- It turns out that we’re having a pretty good strawberry year after all! We were thrilled to be able to give quarts to everyone this week! We’re hoping for one more good week of picking!
Green Curly Kale- I love how the first picking of kale is always so tender. The leaves are so tender they were snapping as we were picking them and it was hard to get them to stay in a bunch. All greens will stay perkier and fresher when stored in a plastic bag in the fridge.
Next week’s Best Guess: strawberry, peas, garlic scapes, head lettuce, kale or swiss chard, kohlrabi, turnips, overwintered potatoes
If you don’t love putting your veggies in plastic bags, you can wrap your produce in damp linen cloths as well to preserve moisture.
Vegan Caesar Kale Salad
Thank you to Lisa for sharing this recipe with us! Lisa is a CSA member and is working on the crew this summer! She also happens to be a fabulous cook!
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| Strawberry Cream Pie Recipe Some people eat to live. I live to eat. More specifically, I live to eat this no-bake Strawberry Cream Pie. I’ve made it with the graham cracker crust. I’ve made it with nut crusts. I’ve made it with cooking the strawberries and with not cooking the strawberries. Strawberries and Whipped cream just go together like the sun and moon, like yin and yang, like…it’s perfection! |
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| Home Made Tahini Salad Dressing Back when I used to buy salad dressings, I loved the tahini Goddess Dressing by Annie’s. But now I make all of my salad dressings at home. I do love a rich, creamy, nutty salad dressing. Try this, I think you’ll like it! Make sure you have a high quality sesame oil! |
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